Attention
by mar-map
Summary: Jack confronts Ianto about Lisa a few days after the incident. Contains spoilers for Cyberwoman.


(**Disclaimer: **I do not claim to own Torchwood in any way.)

The Hub was unusually quiet. Lately the place had been humming with electricity but after the events with Lissa everything had gone quiet. Jack had spent hours cleaning house to wipe the blood off the metal fixtures.

Myfawny still didn't feel too well. She lurked up in her nest hissing angrily whenever Jack tried to coax her down from her high nest. She refused to eat anything especially if it had any of the sauce he usually added to her food.

Jacked walked down the stairs after his revelation to Gwen about the attack and his own defense systems. He didn't dare face her now. He always did have problems facing people after telling them something personal about himself.

Tosh came out of the little kitchen room looking particularly distraught. Jack patted her shoulder as she walked by, most likely to the safe sanctuary of her computers.

Owen watched and grumbled from his own computer but didn't say anything for once. He went back to his work, descending the stairs to the medical bay.

Jack entered into the room Tosh had previously left. he was fiddling idly with the coffee maker. He seemed to be having troubles with his faithful friend, but the coffee machines tended to work better when coffee beans were added. They laid untouched on the shelf.

"Sorry, sir," Ianto said, startled to find Jack there. The captain had never paid attention to the expressions on Ianto's face but he did now. Jack knew no his expression was one of perpetual sadness. "I was about to bring you your coffee."

"Don't worry about that, Ianto, you should be taking the day off." Jack didn't mention how lucky he was to even be alive right now. The captain still hadn't assured himself that he wouldn't be able to shoot the other man.

"Id prefer not to, sir."

"This is a matter that you won't be able to forget at work. I'll get someone to take over for a few days. You need to go home, Ianto."

"Going home would almost be signing my death warrant, not that you'd mind." Ianto fell silent obviously feeling awkward by the words he'd said to his boss.

Jack sighed. "You know that's not true, Ianto, I don't want anyone to die. Sometimes people just have to or else they'll hurt more people."

"I kept her here and refused to kill her when ordered to do so, doesn't that make me just as dangerous? What if I do something like this again?" Ianto growled at him.

"You won't," Jack told him, completely confident in that. "If she has been with you since you joined Torchwood then something must have just recently gone wrong with her."

Ianto was fighting hard not to go into a fit again. All that work to keep her alive so that they could be together had been for naught. He could still see it, the team, pumping bullets into the body. The one Lisa had stolen.

"I was trying to make her better, sir, she was able to walk around again. The cyber in her was just making her confused. She would have been fine if you had given her a few more days."

He couldn't help but see those terrible images. Lisa lying there as Myfawny tore into her, Jack holding him at gunpoint to kill her, Lisa's lifeless body telling him what she'd done, the team pelting her with bullets. Why did Jack have to be here?

"She was a monster, Ianto, there's no coming back from that."

"She was not!" Ianto roared back. He was trembling now. He would have cried had he not worn out his supply of tears the night before. "You killed her, Jack. You're a murderer."

Jack pursed his lips before spitting out, "I think you're still in need of keeping your proprieties straight, Ianto. She wasn't Lisa at the end she was a monster. If you can't remember that and I feel you become a threat to the team I won't hesitate to eliminate that threat."

"Why not just kill me now then, Jack?"

"You can get better. It's hard right now, Ianto, but I promise you'll be fine. I don't believe that you'd actually hurt anyone here, let alone at all. Well, maybe me, but I suppose I do deserve that."

Jack turned to leave, he'd had enough of the conversation and there was rift activity to monitor. Maybe he really was a murderer, leaving Ianto like this all alone.

"What's wrong with me, Jack?"

The captain paused. "Nothing."

"Then why am I not part of the team? I do menial tasks because you ask me to. Why am I the one that's always left to clean up the mess?" He took in a deep breath. "If I were anyone else on the team we both know this is _not_ the conversation we'd be having."

"You're right, Ianto," the captain admitted. "I'm just an idiot, there's nothing wrong with you." He walked over to the unappreciated archivist and pulled him into a hug.

"Jack?"

"Yes, Ianto?"

"I'm sorry for bringing Lisa here and putting Torchwood at risk." He mumbled his words into the captain's pressed, blue shirt.

"Sorry for not paying attention."


End file.
